Having gifted the town with sets
from Arctic Monkeys and The
Good, The Bad & The Queen
during the previous month,
Warrington’s lovely Parr Hall is fast
gaining a reputation as the perfect
‘try out’ venue for large acts
nervously edging towards full tours
and festival appearances.
Having taken two years to
escape the horrors of jaded band
syndrome, Travis have returned
armed with a new album, The Boy
With No Name, and are simply
bristling with songs of gentle pop
intelligence and frighteningly
instant appeal. The pre-album
single, Closer, slotting neatly into
fourth place in this set, had the
lively crowd swaying in a state of
apparent recognition within 20
seconds. Quite an achievement,
given that few people in the
audience could possibly have
heard it before. Similarly, the
Motown attack of Selfish Jean,
another achingly obvious hit,
seems to have already carved out
its own permanence within the
Travis live performance.
If the task in hand was to fit
these new songs firmly into place,
then it certainly proved successful.
In fact, such was the effortless
nature of this appearance, they
could have pushed their luck a
little further with the inclusion of,
say, Battleships, a soaring
account of marital strife.
Travis being Travis, however,
they chose to retreat to the safety
of a bed of classics. And who can
blame them? Driftwood, Turn,
